KOZHIKODE: An all-party meeting on Saturday came down on the police for allegedly beating up students who had laid siege to the national highway at Karanthur on Friday as part of their indefinite agitation against the Markaz Institute of Engineering and Technology (MIET) management who had reportedly duped students by offering unrecognised courses.
The meeting, which was also attended by parents and members of Markaz Students Samara Samiti, observed that the police had been acting on behalf of some influential people, unmindful of the misery of students, who had lost their money and opportunity for higher eduction owing to the alleged “deception”.
P. Viswanathan, a parent and chairman of the Samiti, said the MIET management was yet to compensate the students for their loss. “The Kunnamangalam panchayat is planning one more all-party meeting on Monday to discuss the issue. We will go ahead with the agitation if the management does not change its stance,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, the campus remained crowded on Saturday too, as activists of the Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) took out a march expressing solidarity with the Samiti. Another group, owing allegiance to the MIET management, too made their entry with a separate demonstration, alleging that the whole campaign was part of a politically instigated propaganda.
On Saturday too, the police courted controversy by trying to detain a few students who were on their way back home after the all-party meet. However, the students who were suspected of involvement in the attack on the police were later freed.
The Kunnamangalam police said they had arrested eight persons who assaulted the police and damaged public property during the protest on Friday. They were charged under Sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, they added.
